Fleckman Sees Growth, Progress After Ninth-Place Finish in Georgia

ATLANTA — Wrestlers from Germantown Academy have already made trips to Ohio and Delaware this season, and now they can add Georgia to that list. From Dec. 29 to Dec. 30, a total of 10 student-athletes travelled to Atlanta to participate in The Prep Slam X. The trip yielded success for the Patriots, who had four place winners in as many weight classes and finished ninth overall out of 45 teams.

Out of the 10 wrestlers that GA brought to the tournament, nine of them earned at least one win. That list included several younger athletes who were in the Varsity line-up for the first time this season.

In addition to the success at the tournament, the trip to Atlanta also brought learning opportunities.

“This tournament was more than a competition for us, it really was an experience,” Head Coach Solomon Fleckman said in an email. “We took our time driving down to the tournament over two days and trained in a couple different facilities, meeting a variety of wrestlers and coaches along the way. Without a doubt, it was healthy for us to get out of our usual routines and see a different part of the country so that we could gauge just how we measure up against the competition from the South that will be at the National Preps in about eight weeks from now. The good news is that we fared well overall.”

While almost everyone earned one victory, some performed better than others and became place winners.

Christopher Kim ’20 took first place at 106 pounds and was named Outstanding Wrestler among all the lightweights. Kim only had two matches — the semifinal and the final — last longer than two minutes. That performance comes on the heels of a top-10 finish at The Beast of the East tournament.

Brandon Seidman ’18 finished second in the 113 weight class. His final match was a tight one that saw his opponent win by decision, 3-2.

Rounding out the place winners were freshmen Christian Colman ’21 and Sami Cerebe ’21, who took fourth in the 126 and 160 weight class respectively.

“Overall, this was a fantastic journey for us at this point in the season,” Fleckman said in an email. “We learned valuable lessons and were able to see tangible signs of growth and progress, too.”

The next time the Patriots will be on the mats will be Jan. 5 at 6:00 p.m., when they take on Springside Chestnut Hill Academy on the road.